Elmo Saves Christmas 1996 Aired on PBS (December 2, 1997)
(S.D. Kluger puts his hand on his vehicle as he looks at us) * S.D. Kluger: Well, you want to know all about Santa? Best place to start is at the very beginning, and Santa was just a little baby. * Tubby: You mean Santa was once...... (giggles) a baby? * (The sparrow children giggle) * S.D. Kluger: Of course. Everyone has to be a baby at least once in their lives. Now this was years and years ago, (gestures hands) oh, WAY back... * (Flashback) * (Many years ago, too many to count, in the Northlands, snow is falling down as we go to the entrance of a gloomy-looking city) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: In one of the Northern countries, there was a small city called Sombertown. It was a cold, cold place which shivered in the shadows of the strange mountains of the whispering winds. * (The gates open as someone carrying a cart glumly walks in, with any other citizen dressed in dark colors, walking around, all glum. In one building with a "B" marked on it, a man is in his dining room, gobbling at a chicken leg. He is Burgermeister Meisterburger, the miserable mayor of the miserable town) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: Now the main reason for all this gloom was the mayor, a mean old grouch of a fella, who is known as Burgermeister Meisterburger. * (Then a man comes in, carrying a baby wrapped in a blanket. He is Grimsby, Burgermeister's manservant) * Grimsby: Herr Burgermeister! Herr Burgermeister, look what was discovered on your front stoop. * Burgermeister: (not bothering to look) What, Grimsby? The milk? The daily paper? * Grimsby: No, sir, a baby. * Burgermeister: (amused) Oh, is that all? * (He is about to chew on his chicken once more, but then he realizes what his right-hand man has said, making his eyes widen as he spits out his chicken he almost chokes on) * Burgermeister: (shocked) A baby?! * Grimsby: (pulls out note) And there's a note. It says, "well, please, take care of my child, and protect him from the dangers of the mountains of the whispering winds. He will be acceptional if only given the love he needs." * (Burgermeister's lip begins to tremble in shock, before he jumps up in his chair furiously) * Burgermeister: (outraged) I, Burgermeister Meisterburger, take care of a baby? Outrageous! What's its name? * (The manservant holds out a pendant around the baby's neck as the baby blinks his blue eyes) * Grimsby: This is the only clue, sir. It says "Claus". * Burgermeister: (gets off chair) Oh, (waves his hand in dismissal) take the little....baggage to the orphan asylum. That's the proper place for funders any matter. * (Then the baby starts bawling as Grimsby tries to rock him, while Burgermeister is irritated) * Burgermeister: (annoyed) Get that brat out of here! * (Well, Grimsby swiftly exits the city hall) * (That night, winds are blowing hard as Grimsby is pulling a sleigh of his that carries the baby through the frozen wilderness, trudging through the snow. Then, suddenly, he hears a snapping sound and turns around as he sees that the rope has broken off with the sleigh no longer there) * Grimsby: Oh, the sleigh, it broke away! Oh, my heavens! (looks around and calls out) Wh-where are you, baby Claus? * (He sees the sleigh with the baby blowing far away from him, due to the wind and begins chasing it, before falling into a snowdrift) * Grimsby: Oh, do come back! Come back! * (The wind surprisingly blows the sleigh and baby all around, spinning it in the air before sending it high over the snowy hills up to a mountain) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: Well, that strange wind blew the little sleigh right up to the mountain of the whispering winds. * (The sleigh flies over the heads of a group of forest animals, who see the baby and swiftly chase afterwards, wanting to save him. Then we get a close look at a scary-looking cliff high on the mountains) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: Well, you see, that the mountain was the home of the awful, the horrible, oh, I hate to say his name, that mountain was the home of....... * (Some lightning bolts flash as we see a scary-looking icy palace) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: Winter Warlock, the strange hermit of the north, who lived alone in a ghostly palace of ice, practicing his strange spells and snowy incantations. * (We see a hidden silhouette of a dark figure, known as Winter Warlock, blowing snow from some bony hands of his. Soon the baby and sled hit a tree, sending the baby tumbling out onto the ground, but surprisingly he is yet asleep) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: The animals knew that they had to hide that baby, and fast. * (Well, the animals come and swiftly find some sticks and cover the baby with them, before darting off as the wizard comes passing by, looking for anything out of the ordinary, and if he doesn't see the baby, he leaves. Well, the animals swiftly load him back onto the sleigh, which the deer manages to pull away up a snowy road) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: They knew where that baby belonged, so as swift as they could, they started on their road. * Stubby's Voice: Where? Where? * (Beyond the mountain, we see a multicolored river next to a quaint little home) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: Well, you see, just beyond the mountain was Rainbow River Valley and there by a bend in the magical stream was the home of a jolly family of little people. Elves, they call it wood. * (The animals arrive and hurry up the doorstep, leaving the baby on it. The elf knocks the knocker, before they all depart) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: Kringle was their name. The door was replied by an elf named Dingle, Dingle Kringle, to be precise. * (Sure enough, the door is opened by a butler-like fashion. His name is Dingle) * Dingle: Yes, who's there? There's who? * (He looks and sees the baby there) * Dingle: Ooh, wiggle my ears and tickle my toes! Methinks I see a baby's nose. * (He moves some of the cloth, revealing the baby's face, as he grins) * Dingle: It's more than a nose, there's an entire baby attached to it. Better call my brothers. (calls) Wingle, Bingle, Tingle, Zingle. * (Well, four elves come out. Their names are Wingle, Bingle, Tingle and Zingle, all members of the adopted Kringle family) * Zingle: What is this, Dingle? * (Wingle sees the baby, gasping happily as he picks him up and holds him) * Wingle: It's a baby, Zingle. * Tingle: A baby what, Wingle * Bingle: A baby baby, Tingle? * Dingle: I like babies, Bingle. * Zingle: Our baby's the best baby of them all. * (Well, they all go inside, carrying the baby and bring him to an old overweight woman with white hair. Her name is Tanta Kringle, the Kringles' leader and adoptive guardian) * S.D. Kluger's Voice: They brought the little fellow to the elf queen, Tanta Kringle. * (Tanta grins as she holds him gently) * Tanta: A baby, what a splendid idea. He shall live with us and sleep with us and drink warm cocoa with us. * Zingle: What will we call him, Tanta Kringle? * Dingle: His license says "Claus". * Tanta: Unusual name. However, we shall call you "Kris". Kris Kringle. * (All the Kringles cheer, taking their hats off and jumping into the air)